The Heart-Changing Blossom
by alabamagirl1997
Summary: Betrayed in a way she never thought possible, Sakura Haruno takes refuge in a place full of murderers and assassins . The Akatsuki were notorious for their cold-hearted ways but when a bloody and dying kunoichi is nursed back to health in their own confines, will they be able to resist her? Will they be ale to heal her fear after her betrayal? AkatsukiXSakuraXItachi
1. Chapter 1- Found

Chapter 1- The Escape

Every shinobi has their limit. Some can withstand much more than others but there is always a breaking point. In some cases it is pain itself that causes someone in battle to give up and sometimes a shinobi dies before even reaching their breaking point but nonetheless, everyone has a weakness.

She always counted on the boys of Team Seven, her boys, to be there for her in her time of need. She never liked looking at their backs in battle and at the age of eighteen, she was damn well capable of taking care of herself.

She was taken seriously and if Team Seven ever happened to be caught in battle, the first thing on their mind wasn't 'who is going to guard Sakura' anymore. She knew that they all still worried over her but that's because she's the only girl in the group. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sai didn't have any ill intentions when trying to protect her; it's just in their nature to defend the lone kunoichi. She learned a long time ago that no matter how many battles she won or tantrums she threw, they will always still put her safety first.

Thinking back to her flat-chested, twelve year-old self and then to the strong woman she became, she was proud of how far she'd come. Yes, she have a temper and yes, her boys bring it out in her more often than not but ever since Tsunade-sama admitted to everyone in the village that she surpassed her in both medical skills and strength on Sakura's sixteenth birthday, all of her friends and family had a new level of respect for the young kunoichi. She appreciated it more than anything in the world and she knew from that day on that no one was going to keep her in their shadow anymore; she wasn't going to break down and show fear as she had so many years ago when Sasuke left… Sakura never knew how wrong she'd be.

Her legs were unstable as she sprinted across the muddy forest floor. Blood dripped continuously from her deep wounds that seemed to be everywhere; her legs, her arms, her chest. The drugs hadn't worn off yet and she could still feel the heaviness in her limbs as if they had weights tied to them. The rain pouring down from the sky wasn't helping her fast escape and despite the fear that already consumed her body, she couldn't help but flinch when a loud boom of thunder shook the ground blow her.

The girl pushed herself forward, egged on by the calls and heavy footsteps of the teammates behind her. They didn't deserve that title, not after everything they did to her.

Sakura heard Kakashi call out to Sai and tell him to use his special jutsu to get her but Sai shortly explained that the ink would never hold up in a downpour like this. She was grateful only for few seconds before the bright flash of lightning sent her heart into overdrive.

Her breath was coming out in short and painful pants, her throat raw and sore from the consistent screaming over the past two weeks. She knew why they hadn't captured her yet; they wanted her to be even more terrified than she already was of them. They wanted to play cat-and-mouse before they killed her and finally ended her torture. They wanted to play games with her mind but even though she knew all of this, it still didn't make Kakashi and Naruto's cry for me to stop sound any less panicked and caring.

"Sakura, stop and let us help you! What happened?" Sakura could hear their team leader shout out. She shut her eyes only for a moment to try and force the hopeful thoughts out of her mind. _They hurt you; they don't care for you. They want to kill you. Don't stop, keep moving. Don't let them catch you._

The pinkette's shoulder-length hair was clumped with mud from previous falls that had only opened up her wounds even more. She prayed silently that when they caught her (because it was only a matter of time) that they would end her life quickly but she scolded herself immediately at the very idea. Those bastards wouldn't go easy on her after all the trouble she was causing them.

Her sobs were broken, as was her heart and she couldn't help but imagine a time when the three men behind her were the ones she looked up to the most. Kakashi-sensei was such a powerful shinobi and his strength and determination was what drove her to train so hard every day; that and Tsunade's strict orders of absolutely no slacking.

Naruto was just as inspirational with his constant rattles of hopes and dreams to be Hokage one day and lead the Hidden Leaf Village as valiantly as his father had. The boy never stopped to at good enough and surpassed what everyone thought of him to be one of the greatest younger shinobi in the village.

Sai was a different story. Sakura still had thought highly of him before this whole situation because of the progress he had made from being an ANBU robot with no feelings to an actual human being that laughed and cried and enjoyed life as it came to him. She was his friend, his comrade but as flashes of the terrible events of the past fortnight ran through her mind, she had to remind herself that they were all evil.

They had all fooled her and taken away what most kunoichi at her age didn't have. The innocence that had always made Sakura different was now gone, tainted by the disgusting desires and bloodlust of those she thought would always be there for her.

She screamed in agony and whirled around for just long enough to send a handful of kunai barreling in their direction. Of course Kakashi would see and block the oncoming missiles; the blood-red sharingan of his pierced through the darkness around them, through the rain and straight to her. She was caught and every one of them knew it. She decided very quickly that despite her injuries, she would not go down without a fight.

Almost completely out of chakra and energy, Sakura kid to a halt in the mud and turned on her ex-teammates, looking at them with a mix of utter terror and deliriousness. She was stupid to have even stopped, she decided, when the boys stopped a little ways before her. They were panting and soaked to the bone just as she was, no doubt ready to skin her with her own kunai.

Unbeknownst the all four of them, two men were closing in on them fast, fiercely curious as to what had caused a woman in the middle of a torrential downpour and in the middle of nowhere to scream like that. They both shared the same thoughts, that the cry was like nails to a chalkboard and put them both on edge like they've never been before.

They moved silently, their black cloaks with red clouds protecting them from the freezing rain that would surely leave someone dead with hypothermia in hours. The scouting mission that they were returning from was fairly simple and both Nin just wanted to be home where it was warm. The desperate cry had left them so unsettled that they risked what could be a trap to scout the area. It was inevitable.

What they saw when they arrived in a small clearing left the speechless for several minutes.

Three Leaf Nin were facing a single kunoichi, obviously from the same village, while the pink-haired girl was practically falling apart. She was absolutely covered in blood from head to toe even though water was pouring from the sky in what seemed to be buckets. She was shivering so hard that it appeared as if someone were shaking her by her shoulders and one looked at the girl would clue anyone in on the terror that she was feeling.

The sight was extremely confusing to the Akatsuki duo, especially since they knew better than anyone else exactly how much these shinobi meant to each other. Something pretty terrible had to go down to make a girl like this so bent out of shape. Neither of them liked what the situation implied.

Sakura was gripped with fear and all of the fight that she thought she had when she stopped to battle were gone the second that she faced them. Images of them moaning over her and dragging their sharp blades across her skin flashed over and over again in her head. She couldn't do anything to stop the onslaught of memories to consume the rest of her strength.

Kakashi moved forward after their silence stretched on but the kunoichi was already taking three steps back, barely keeping herself on her feet. "Don't come any closer!" she screamed in anguish, terrified of the very thought of his hands over her body again.

Naruto tried to move this time though her reaction was the same, a little more hectic if anything. "Please, don't do this! Just kill me and get it over with!" Her pleads lingered in the two hidden men's minds, their disgust of the other male shinobi not too far from them growing with haste.

"Sakura, what the hell are you talking about? Just come with us and we can go home before you get sick." Naruto stepped forward again but frowned deeply when she fell backwards with her attempt to put more distance between the two.

"Just fucking kill me already!" she screeched, her sobs wracking her body painfully. More blood ran down her face from somewhere on my forehead when she dug her fingers into her scalp with the intention of diverting her attention to something, anything other than the traitorous partners before her.

Surprisingly, Sai was the one who lost his patience first as he shoved past Kakashi and Naruto and stalked towards the terrified girl. "I'm done with this…" he started but before he could even finish his sentence, two figures appeared between him and the girl, successfully blocking him from any movement forward.

The Nin with long black hair had a kunai level with Sai's abdomen and was standing a mere foot away from him while the much larger Nin with the face of a shark and a wrapped sword clinging to his back was kneeling in front of the collapsed kunoichi, his arm extended in front of her.

Naruto's eyes narrowed immediately while Kakashi hissed in anger. "Akatsuki." The words meant little to Sakura though. For the first time in her life, she was honestly happy that the deadly assassins were in front of her. Within the current circumstances, they were protecting her.

"Get the hell away from her!" Naruto yelled, balling his fists up as Sai darted away from the deadly Nin and appeared next to his team leader.

The shark man's low chuckle was well heard despite the rain and thunder loudly around them. "Why would I do that? From what I've seen she don't want anything to do with any of you."

Kakashi's eyes were scrunched with muted rage. "You don't know anything Kisame," the Copy Nin spoke with collected emotion, knowing that screaming at them would not help anyone. "Itachi, don't you think that you should just take your partner and leave? This doesn't concern you."

Itachi's eyes never left the three standing in front of him and he contemplated quickly whether or not this fight was even worth it. The Uchiha wasn't one to start unnecessary bloodshed but when the kunoichi let out another strangled sob, his mind was made up.

"In case you have forgotten, I am from Konaha too so I am well informed of how the shinobi are treated by their peers and elders. From what I see, no one from your little village would be very proud of you actions," Itachi spoke with calculation and great thought, obviously wording it so that it implied exactly what he was thinking but not saying it outright.

Naruto shifted forward, his knuckles turning white from fisting his hands so tightly. "We didn't do this to Sakura! We would never hurt her!"

"LIAR!" Sakura screamed in response, flinching when Kisame turned to look at her expressionlessly. She knew she should be scared out of her mind but she wasn't; not when the Akatsuki members were putting more distance between her and the rest of Team Seven.

Itachi turned to Kisame, the silence between everyone being filled with harsh splatters of rain and thunder. No one else could see what transpired between the teammates in such a short span of time but it was guessed when Itachi eased out of his fighting stance and Kisame stood up next to him.

The shark man didn't have a single trace of humor in his dark eyes as he had in every other encounter they've ever had with him and it was unnerving to see him so serious and… deadly looking.

Kisame turned towards the girl that was on the brink of unconsciousness; her eyes hollow, blood still pouring from the deep cuts in her skin, and her lips so pale blue that they almost looked white. She needed warmth and comfort and even though that was so not the Akatsuki's forte, he opened his arms wide for her anyway.

The pinkette was stunned and it showed with her wide, bloodshot eyes and slack jaw. He felt bad for her and that scared him a little. He as a notorious killer who had long forgotten what is was to care for someone and in turn, be cared for. He didn't exactly enjoy or relish in the fact that he barely knew her and she was already making him _feel_ again. With one backward glance at Itachi, he realized that his partner felt the same way.

Slowly, as if she were afraid it was a trap; she stood on her shaky legs and stumbled towards them, forcing Kisame to hold her up when she clutched his robes. His blood boiled when he smelled how much blood was on her and it didn't help when he could physically feel her trembling from fear, blood loss, and the cold. She was falling apart.

"Sakura, get away from them! What the hell are you doing?" Naruto raged again, the air around all of the stiffening when the Kyubbi's chakra eased out of him. His anger was practically visible.

Itachi reached his hand out and secured his fingers on one of Kisame's sleeves as his arms tightened around the girl in front of him. She sobbed again just as Itachi raised his head to pierce the Leaf Nin with his threatening glare.

"We're going to take her with us and shelter her from monsters like you. The Akatsuki might have taken away people important to you but we are given assassination missions just as you all have done before. We did our job but nowhere in any Konaha mission has it ever required for such torture to be given to one of their own. At least the Akatsuki know how to treat women."

The two cloaked men and the small girl burst into hundreds of black ravens that scattered in an instant. Lightning flashed in the sky again and as Naruto tilted his head back; his scream of anger was lost in the howling wind.

….

Three figures sat stiffly on the large couch opposite the burning flames in the stone fireplace. The one with red hair was quietly reattaching fingers onto a wooden hand while the blonde next to him kneaded a small clump of white clay with his fingers.

The shark man that sat precariously on the right side had told them everything that had happened and why the Uchiha was still with the now sleeping girl. They had all cringed when hearing her screams from nightmares after they brought her in and Itachi had decided to stay there with her so that hopefully she could get some sleep in order to heal her wounds.

The men didn't know how bad it was until Itachi had swiftly entered the infirmary and left moments later with arms full of disinfectant and bandages.

The silence was bothering Deidara and the more he tried to focus on the clay bird in his hand, the more it began to resemble a blob of nothing. With a sigh, he threw the squishy substance onto the mahogany coffee table by their feet and turned a glare onto the man seated beside him.

"Why do we have to deal with this, yeah? You know that the second she's better, she will blow up this whole base." He was angry and had no desire to hide his feelings. It's not that her arrival was an inconvenience but it was more along the lines of her arrival creating emotions in Itachi and Kisame that they should never have in this organization.

Kisame fixed his threatening gaze on the blonde as if daring him to say more. "What did you want me to do? After how we found her, I doubt she's going to willingly go back to the Leaf."

"You should have left her to die! We are killers, not rescuers. We don't need people underestimating us just because we saved a little kunoichi in the rain."

Deidara had less than a second to avoid the large pulsing sword that was suddenly hurled in his direction. The mad bomber back flipped over the table and landed in front of the fire, giving the angry man an exasperated look. "What the hell was that for?"

Kisame looked murderous and a small part in the back of Deidara's mind wondered who this girl was to cause such emotion in this man as quick as she did. "Watch your mouth," the shark man said, lowering his sword to the ground. "You weren't there when we found her. We might not be the most accommodating people to hang out with but at the end of the day, we're still people. In this line of work, we're at the point that we kill without remorse but it was different with her."

Sasori, who had been listening to the conversation while fixing one of his puppet's hands, finally grew more interested at the tired tone that everything was turning to. "How so?"

Kisame looked down at his feet. "She came to us willingly."

Deidara's eyes bulged out of his head and his mouth opened wide. "What?"

"I said she came to us willingly. Do you understand how afraid someone must be to feel safer with us than the other group? She grew up with them, entrusted her life with them and we found her torn up and bloody and begging for death. You didn't see her there. You would have felt bad too."

Kisame rose to his feet, obviously worn from the day's unexpected turn. "Did you contact leader as I asked you to?"

Since Deidara was utterly frozen to the spot with the same stupid look on his face, Sasori sighed and answered for him. "Yes; leader said that since we are trying to hang low for a while that it would be better if everyone came here to stay in case of an attack instead of all over the place. He said that he will talk to the girl himself and decide then what to do with her. If she stays, we are going to have a hell of a time explaining this to the rest of them."

Kisame turned his back to the dim living room and stopped for a moment in thought. What would he do if leader decided to end the young kunoichi's life? He knew it was what she wanted but was it what _he _wanted?

Itachi wouldn't mind; especially since it was the Uchiha's idea to bring the dying girl here. It was only a matter of time before she woke up and everyone could see for themselves how bad off she was. It leader let her stay; he would do everything in his power to protect her from anything else harmful to her. She was different.

"I know," Kisame replied in a troubled voice, and left the bomber and the puppet master to their own thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2- Touchy

Chapter 2- Stares

_Her hands were tied around the post of a desk that was bolted into the floor just as every fancy hotel they ever stayed at did. Her body was twisted at an awkward angle and her head pounded furiously as she opened her eyes and tried to see something, anything clearly._

_She was surrounded by silence and it was unnerving being in that situation. She could remember why she was there, vaguely, but at the same time, everything was blank. Every time she reached out with her mind to seek answers, a sharp pain would shoot down her spinal cord and render her paralyzed for several hours. It took all she had not to scream._

_Sakura had no idea how long she was there for but she was positive that it was at least two days according to the light that would occasionally spill through the sides of the curtains. Two days with no food, no water, no human contact, and no hope._

_She had no idea what was going but she knew damn well that it wasn't good and whatever it was would surely be the end of her. In an odd sense, death didn't seem too bad to her right then._

_After what seemed like forever, she heard the unmistakable sound of a card sliding through a lock and she held her breath as the door to her left swing open. Her eyes widened briefly but she smiled widely at the three faces that were so familiar to her. They were her family in a way and she was overjoyed that they were here. They could help her._

_Kakashi stepped into the room first, followed by Naruto and Sai who were oddly quiet in a situation like this. She didn't notice it though and she sure as hell didn't notice evil grin that adored all of their faces. She was more concerned about what it would finally feel like to stand up again and have something substantial in her stomach._

_"Hello Sakura." Kakashi spoke, walking up until he was right next to her before kneeling down._

_"Kaka-sensei, I'm so glad you guys found me! I thought I was going to die here. Did you see anyone suspicious walking out of the hotel? You know what, never mind. It doesn't matter anymore. Please just cut these ropes; I'm so weak I can hardly move."_

_She was rattling off in a terrible state and all of them knew exactly how helpless she was in that moment. The silver-haired man reached forward as if to touch the ropes by her hand but instead touched her arm and trailed his fingers across her soft, pale skin until he reached her left shoulder._

_His malicious smile made the sharingan in his left eye look all the more intimidating and that's when she saw the flash of a kunai in one of his hands. "Good."_

Sakura shot upright, panting as if she had been held under water for an extended amount of time. Images of her teammates laughing and clawing at her skin made the hair all over her body stand up and she couldn't do anything more than drop her head into her hands and sob.

She hurt all over and it was very clear as to why. She had seen the bruises on her abdomen and her thighs the night she escaped and despite being drugged, she remembered every second of their torture. She remembered it all and that's what was eating up her insides; the fact that she would never forget.

The young girl was so distraught that she didn't notice the Uchiha sitting in a wooden chair in the corner that had woken up the second that her breathing pattern had changed.

If anyone were to look at him now, they would think his expressionless face made him even colder but in all reality, he was dying a little on the inside. He had never seen a woman break down like this and even if he had, he didn't think that he would care as much as he did now.

She was still filthy although he had tried to clean off as much blood as possible. Sakura must've taken someone else's clothing before she escaped because the large, black Jonin pants and t-shirt were many sizes too big for the petite girl.

She rocked herself back in forth, sobbing and gasping for air before diving right back into despair. Itachi felt like he was violating something as he sat there, not doing anything to calm her down. The truth of the matter was that even if he _had _wanted to comfort her, he wouldn't have a single clue how. He settled for watching over her until she stopped.

That took a lot longer than he thought it would. A good half hour later, she was lying on her left side and facing him but still had her eyes closed. Every once in a while her breath would catch as if readying itself to cry all over again but she would just take a deep breath and calm herself the best she could.

He couldn't stand to think what she had to go through in order for a kunoichi of her caliber to break down like this. It was rare to see someone as strong as the great Tsunade-sama but it was even rarer to see someone tear someone that strong to pieces.

In the distance he could feel the chakra signals of his comrades Hidan and Kakazu quickly coming to the base and he quickly mulled over how _that_ meeting was going to turn out. Kakazu would be fine but an emotionally distressed kunoichi and Hidan together didn't exactly equal anything good.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sharp gasp and as he turned his eyes downward, he saw Sakura tightly gripping the sheets with one hand and her abdomen with the other. Oddly enough, she didn't look scared, only suspicious. "Why haven't you killed me yet?" She demanded.

Itachi wanted to laugh. Of course the one time he actually _saved _someone they just wanted to die. How good for him. "We brought you here to keep your teammates away from you. Obviously you didn't want them near you."

Sakura's eyes narrowed more as she shifted slowly to an upright position. "So you're not going to kill me or torture me? Maybe interrogation?"

She was rewarded with a small, barely-there smirk. "No kunoichi, we brought you here for your safety. We have no other ulterior motives." After carefully picking apart her wary expression, he came to another conclusion. "You don't believe me." It was more of a statement than anything else.

She snorted softly but winced at the pain it caused in her body. "I haven't been given many reasons over the past few days to be _trustful_." Her eyes seemed to hold so much pain that it was impossible to _not_ know what had gone down.

He was quiet for a while as he thought about everything and a part of him was surprised at how angry he was. He was the infamous _Uchiha Itachi_; he should feel nothing but power. So why was he stressing about this so much?

When he looked at her again she looked like she was ready to burst into tears all over so he lifted his body out of the chair and crossed the room with Sakura's eyes trained on him. "Let's go get breakfast. I'm sure you're hungry."

It was then that she realized just how wrong he was. She had lost her appetite the second that the kunai in Kakashi's hands glinted dangerously only a few days ago and it hadn't come back since but she didn't want to break down again. It was embarrassing enough that the Uchiha had seen it the first time.

Without a word, she heaved herself painfully off of the soft bed that was shoved into the corner of the room and, after steadying herself, limped towards the door and after Itachi. He didn't say anything about her being in pain if he had even noticed but he did walk very slowly, slow enough that she figured he was doing it just for her.

A dreadful, clenching feeling grew in the pit of her stomach as she thought about everyone thinking she was the weak link. She wasn't weak in the slightest bit but compared to the shinobi taking refuge in this building, she was like a fly compared to a sky. She was nothing.

Even though the size of the Akatsuki base was bound to be massive, it didn't take very long to enter a small, stone-walled room that was only dimly lit with the light from a burning fireplace. A dark leather couch was in the very center of the room and a coffee table sat a few feet in front of that. She briefly wondered what kind of literature was on the bookcase that was placed by the wall on her left but didn't get a chance to see since thy walked right through the living room and into an even bigger room.

The light wooded floors of the kitchen were surprisingly sparkling clean and so was everything else that her eyes landed on. The walls were a simple white shade and a black fridge was humming quietly next to the sink on her right. The marble countertops were the same as the island that stood in the dead center of everything while a large dining table was on the other side of the room.

Much to her displeasure, five pairs of eyes landed on her instantly, all of the men pausing mid-bite to stare at her as if she had two heads. It was infuriating to say the least but she continued forward as if she didn't notice their looks when Itachi placed a light hand on her shoulder, guiding her to an empty seat between Deidara and Sasori.

In the center of the table was a series of paper bags full of one thing; sushi. As if sensing her dirty looks at the food, the man sitting across from her with slicked back, white hair burst into a series of rowdy laughter. "It was Kisame's turn to order food and all the asshole fucking orders is his damn fish." You'll learn not to let him win sparring matches if you want something other than _this_," he said, referring to the unsatisfactory breakfast placed before them.

Itachi ignored his foul-mouthed companion's words and instead walked towards the fridge and pulling out a regular water bottle. "I'm sure that you are familiar with everyone here so the only introductions will be with those arriving later on."

As if on cue, Kisame raised his eyebrows (a scary sight that was) and grinned with his large, sharp teeth. "Speak of the devil; leader-sama just arrived." His eyes then fell on the kunoichi who was suddenly looking very overwhelmed. "He'll want to talk to you. Just keep your mouth shut unless he asks you something and you should be alright, kid." He said, shoving another hoard of sushi into his mouth.

Sakura turned away from him in disgust and instead focused on a small rut in the table that looked very similar to that of a kunai hole. She guessed than not all of the Akatsuki members could keep their cool at all times. It would be surprising if they did.

The Uchiha watched as her eyes glazed over and she stared at a spot on the table intensely but he knew her mind was somewhere else and he didn't bother to wake her from it.

He felt the chakra signal of his leader as he got closer and closer to the kitchen until the orange-haired, multi-pierced man was intimidatingly standing in the doorway, his eyes trained on the daydreaming pinkette at their dining room table.

Pein seemed to get lost in thought for a while before turning to him. "Itachi, Kisame, I wish to speak to you first about the situation before discussing it with the girl myself." That seemed to get the kunoichi's attention as she watched the three figures leave the room.

Pein didn't lead them far, only stopping right outside of the kitchen door. He watched the partners closely for a few moments before sighing and rubbing his hand over his face tiredly. "She was in that bad of a condition?"

"She still is," Itachi murmured in response. "But do not underestimate that girl. She could easily take down any one of us with ease. It's just her mind that is not in the right place."

Their leader looked upon their serene faces and nodded. "If your assumptions are correct then she has a valid reason to be out of it. I think I have made my decision but before giving her the official okay to stay, I want to wait a while before she is up to a spar with one of you. I want to see her strength…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence because the sound of shattering wood resonated around them and suddenly, the wall that separated the kitchen and living room was obliterated and the ground beneath their feet trembled. As the dust settled, they realized that it had been Hidan's body that crashed through the wall and he had actually flown past that and into the next wall that also has pieces falling from it.

The Jashinist stood uneasily as blood trailed from his lip to his chin. He looked utterly outraged as the pink haired kunoichi emerged from where the stone wall once stood. She didn't have a single emotion on her face but she didn't have to have one; the anger she felt was palpable.

Hidan pointed an accusing finger at her as his face contorted with his rage. "Shit, can't you take a fucking joke? Dammit, that fucking hurt! Next time you decide to unleash your fucking anger, don't use any damn chakra!" he screamed.

Everyone stared in awe as the kunoichi raised her shoulders in a shrug. "I didn't." And with that, she was gone down the hallway with as empty as a stomach as when they arrived.

Kisame glared at Hidan as if he wanted to rip him a new one while Pein peered with interest through the space that once was a wall. Wood splinters littered the entire kitchen while Deidara and Sasori were still in their seats with surprised looks on their face. They hadn't even had time to react to the pinkette slamming her feet onto the table at Hidan's comment and very distinctly shoving her fist into his face.

Kisame threw his arms around his head in aggravation. "What the hell did you say to her, dumbass? You do understand that she's not fucking stable at the moment, right?"

"Obviously! She's fucking psychotic!"

Anther glare was pointed in Hidan's direction. "What did you say to her?"

Sasori raised his voice slightly so everyone in the filthy living room could hear him clearly. "He conveniently mentioned that he was happy to see that she was into 'rough love,' as he put it, in reference to the bruises on her skin. He also dropped that his bedroom would always be open for her personal pleasure."

Hidan's eyes narrowed into slits as he glared through the dusty space and into the now exposed kitchen. "You're such a fucking snitch. Damn, the bitch just doesn't know how to take a damn joke. If she's going to be in Akatsuki then she needs to toughen the hell up."

The cultist rose to his feet unsteadily and brushed off the small bits of shattered stone and dust that was on his tattered cloak as a piece of his white hair fell onto his forehead. He was pissed that it would most likely be _his_ responsibility to clean up this mess but he was impressed with the kunoichi. She wasn't half bad, in his point of view.

Pein surprisingly spoke next, his soft but firm words gaining the attention of every Akatsuki member in the two joined rooms. "Hidan, I understand that you have different thoughts and beliefs compared to the rest of us but I should hope to assume that if you cannot get along with Sakura then you will leave her alone. Her physical strength is impeccable but we need to get her back into her regular pace of mind. You getting a rise out of her will not help anything."

No part of his small speech held an actual command but no one dared to defy even then. Pein was not someone to mess with and even though none of them had truly seen him fight to his full capability, they could feel his immense chakra signature. He would not be an easy opponent in the least.

Hidan nodded his head and turned away to leave, not having to be told what was also expected of him. He didn't feel bad for what he said; after all, he was not known for feeling remorse for anything but the kunoichi's quick loss of control revealed something much deeper than he doubted anyone else had caught.

The nightmares that she has been having and will continue to have are not just mere projections of her subconscious; they are memories that have imbedded themselves deep into her mind. It was easy to see that she was barely holding her head above the water and it was only a matter of time before she began to drown.

…

If she had her chakra right then, she would have destroyed the entire base because of the rage that was still burning in her veins. Sakura was always known for her temper but even Sai hadn't succeeded in making her that angry yet.

She could still feel the Jashinist's heavy gaze on her neck where the dark purple handprint marred her skin and she could still see his sadistic smirk as he _cracked a joke_. The asshole definitely had a death wish but unfortunately he couldn't die. Oh how she wished she could change that…

She paced her room, looking at her door every once in a while as if someone would walk right through it. A small part of her was afraid to go to sleep _because_ of that. Team Seven was not weak in the least when all fighting together and she had no doubt in her mind that if they wanted her back, they would be able to come in here and take her.

Fear twisted her gut tightly at the idea of them coming in the middle of the night as she slept and having their way with her again. Shivers ran down her spine as she remembered their rough touches and dirty comments.

Running over the opposite side of the room, the pinkette pushed her shoulder against the side of the tall, heavy dresser and began to shove it across the floor until it was flush up against the wooden door, completely blocking it from sight.

Her chest heaved as more images flickered across her mind of the horrible events that occurred not even three days ago.

She tightly gripped her head in her hands and squeezed her eyes shut as she collapsed to the floor, screaming when the nightmares began.

…

Seven Akatsuki members flinched and turned their heads to the hall entrance when they heard Sakura's screams. Kisame grimaced and let his head drop to the floor in silent pity.

He and Itachi had a pretty damn good idea what had happened to her but there was no way to know unless she opened up enough to tell them which wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. The girl was utterly distraught and one glance at Hidan proved that even he had remorse for what had been said to the girl before she punched him through a wall.

Pen sighed and dropped his head in contemplation for a moment before speaking for all of his followers. "I expect you to help her. Do not forget that underneath these robes, you are still human and so is that girl. She most likely didn't deserve what happened to her and I don't doubt for a second that if we let her be, she would end her life. Do not let that happen."

He disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the Akatsuki members to trade looks of dread.


	3. Chapter 3- Early Rise

Chapter 3- Sakura (I'm switching the format from 3rd to 1st person P.O.V.)

I felt bad for destroying the kitchen table, I really did. It was too early for anyone else to up at this hour and since my sleep was robbed by my treacherous subconscious, food seemed like the most logical idea even though I was nowhere near hungry. Coffee probably was the better bet.

I stood with my back pressing lightly into the granite countertops and a steamy mug in my hand as I looked at what mess was left from my outburst last night. Someone had picked up most of the big pieces of stone from the broken wall and the only way anyone could tell that something happened to the table was the small splinters of wood stuck in the carpet.

The clock that was on the wall in the living room was clearly visible from the spot I was in and I rolled my eyes at seeing that it was only three thirty in the morning. Whenever I was in Konaha or even on missions, hell would have to be frozen over for me to be up at this damn hour. I was not a morning person or someone even slightly tolerable when tired. I guess some things change.

I abandoned any thought of eggs or bacon on my fourth cup of coffee and just set out to repair the damage that I'd done, sweeping up the pummeled dust particles in the living room and then carefully picking all the wood off of the floor. It felt so weird being in the Akatsuki base and not hunting them or being hunted myself. Sure they could have another reason for keeping me here but if they did, wouldn't they have someone watching over me to make sure I didn't take off? Something just wasn't right here.

At four thirty, I was sitting on the floor of the kitchen with my back against the fridge, my sixth cup of coffee keeping my hands warm against the cool air around me. My mind was buzzing and the caffeine definitely did its job in waking me up and keeping me that way. I doubt that anyone here would even bother with something like decaf and I could feel my energy building up despite my lack of sleep.

I was shaking my right foot from side to side and my hands were impatiently tapping the brown mug as I waited for something, anything. I wouldn't have even minded if Hidan came down to annoy me because throwing him through another wall would at least be _something_.

At six in the morning and my ninth cup of coffee empty, cleaned, and nicely put away, I lost it. I was like a storm moving through the windy walls trying to find a way out. The kitchen was too boring and too empty; too quiet to entertain me any longer. I needed something to keep the memories away and something that would be the slightest bit exciting.

All the chakra signals around me were dull and unwavering, most likely because everyone in their right mind was still sleeping, and it irritated me even more than I was before. How dare they be sleeping when I was up and ready to go? They were Akatsuki, shouldn't they be up before the sun every morning anyway?

After Kami knows how long, I found a large stone door at the end of a long hallway that I had happened to go down. My hands were twitching as I stopped to look at it, my eyes narrowing in the slightest. What I was suspicious about, I had no idea and my mind instantly blamed in on the amount of caffeine I had consumed over the wee hours of the morning.

In a quick decision that _nothing _could be worse than sitting in this cave-like structure any longer, I pressed my hands against the cold surface and pushed, wincing when the loud creaking of the door echoed around me.

A bright light blinded me for a moment as my eyes adjusted to what I excitedly realized was sunlight. Holy shit, I did it.

I lost control of my body as I pulled my hands back to my body and stepped into the grass that was still wet from the morning dew and rain. Birds were singing back to each other in elegant whistles and the bright green leaves that hung heavily on the trees as water dripped from them and into large puddles of mud that had been created from the torrential downpour over the past few days.

With slight depression, I realized that the sky was still full of dark clouds that didn't seem likely to go away any time soon. A low rumbling of thunder sent a shudder down my spine as I thought about the chase that gave way the night before. If it hadn't been for Itachi and Kisame, I would have surely been captured and killed. There was no way around the simple truth or any way to make it sound any better. Team Seven wanted me dead and I had no idea why.

The tranquil mood I had gained from busying myself with cleaning and looking for a way out quickly disappeared with my own darkening mood. I didn't think that this would ever happen; that the only people in the world that I truly thought to love me would do such terrible things.

Did Tsunade know? Did anyone in Konaha know the real truth behind why the bright, bubble Haruno Sakura was gone? They wouldn't know unless they were the ones who sent Team Seven to do this to me. That in itself was hard to believe. Konaha was known for how loyal the shinobi were to the village and each other. So why did any of this happen?

A flash of lighting made me look up to the sky again and I realized that this was my refuge now. I couldn't return to my home, I couldn't return to my duties as a Leaf Nin. If I went back then everyone would want to know what happened. I would be faced with the traitors themselves who would act worried and then jump at the first chance they get to stick a knife in my back. I couldn't go back. I couldn't.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I forced what little chakra I had into my feet and charged into the forest, blindly swinging my fists around. I didn't have enough chakra to use but my natural strength was more than enough to split at least half a dozen trees in half and put quite a few craters into the ground.

The tears that soon spilled onto my cheeks drove my rage even more as I plowed on, destroying everything that my eyes landed on. I would make sure that they couldn't hurt me anymore. I would make sure that this never happened again.

I was suddenly broken out of my angry tirade when a flash of orange caught my attention. Two figures stood not too far from where I was, their Akatsuki cloaks damp from the rain they probably got caught in on the way here.

One man was unmistakable with half of his face white and the other half black, a giant Venus flytrap enclosing his upper body. Zetsu was standing there quietly while his orange-masked buddy was waving a hand over his head wildly at me.

I won't lie; it freaked me the hell out. I didn't know this guy and even then, most Akatsuki I've met don't act like this; nor would they ever. This guy was completely over-the-hill excited and bouncing in his place. When he spoke, his voice resembled a child's in so many ways but he was well over six feet tall. "HI! TOBI LOVES YOUR HAIR!"

My mind went blank and all I could do was look at him. I was so taken off guard by his antics that I didn't notice how he suddenly ended up right in my face with what was sure to be a beaming smile under his mask. I jumped back at the sudden proximity but he hardly faltered at my fear.

"Senpai sent Zetsu and Tobi a message that said a girl was going to be staying with us. Tobi will be so happy if it's you!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together in excitement. "You are so strong! Tobi wishes he could be that strong without using chakra!"

I gave him a blank look and I somewhat doubted I would be able to give him more anyways even if I wanted to. "I take it that you're Tobi?"

As if a fire had been lit under his ass, the man leapt into the air with a shrill squeal that made even Zetsu wince. "THE PRETTY GIRL KNOWS TOBI'S NAME!" he screamed, punching a fist into the air with triumph. He turned back to me and swiftly took my hand into his. I immediately tried to jerk it out of his grip but the masked-man only held tighter. "Tobi wants to know your name!"

I gave him a weird look; after all, he really wasn't acting like the cold-hearted bastards that Akatsuki usually were, and softly responded, "Sakura."

Tobi broke out into a sea of giggles, jumping around and dragging my arm up and down in the air with him. I honestly would have thought he was a child if it weren't for his towering figure that loomed a good foot over my own height.

"Tobi is hungry, Sakura-chan! Let's go make breakfast for Senpai so he doesn't get angry with Tobi again!" and with that, his grip tightened on my hand and he shot off like a bullet through the forest and straight through the stone door that had taken me so long to find.

He knew his way around the falls perfectly and within two minutes we were standing in the living room while he openly gawked at the missing wall that now opened up the kitchen space. "Wow, Sakura-chan, do you see that?! It's amazing! Tobi wishes he was here to see what happened!"

I chose not to bring that story up on my own; someone will probably tell him what happened anyway soon enough.

Zetsu must've gone straight to bed or something because he never did enter the kitchen after Tobi and I began making eggs and bacon. Tobi made the point of adding certain specialties to different plates and he excited told me that everyone liked their own side dish.

The clock read nine-thirty when the first signs of life outside of the kitchen took place. Kisame tiredly stumbled into the kitchen but managed to flash me a grin full of sharp, pointy teeth. He laughed at my wide-eyed stare and simply grabbed his plate off the counter.

"Well since our with Jashinist decided to piss Pinkie off, I get to eat my meal on the couch without Itachi biting damn head off," he announced, shuffling back through the large space and collapsing on one of the soft cushions.

It didn't take long for me to realize _why_ Itachi probably didn't like Kisame eating on the couch; he made a complete mess, food often falling out of the corner of his mouth and onto the cushions or rug.

I glared at him a few seconds longer before turning back to Tobi who suddenly seemed to burst like a firework. He hopped around from foot to foot, his hands clasped together tightly while he emitted small giggles.

Before I could ask him what his problem was, a certain blonde-haired Akatsuki member trudged into the kitchen looking more like the walking dead than an S-class shinobi.

When he was fully in the room, Tobi practically exploded. "SENPAAAAAAAIIII!" He screeched, lunging forward with as much grace as an elephant. "SENPAI, YOU'RE FINALLY AWAKE! TOBI MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

Deidara rubbed his eyes with his palm and sighed as if the world was on his shoulders. "Tobi, it's a little too early for this, don't you think?"

Tobi furiously shook his head. "Oh no Senpai. Tobi had fun with Zetsu-san but Tobi missed you the most!" The masked man looked dangerously close to throwing his arms around Deidara but one murderous look from the blonde stopped him in his place… For a moment or two.

"Senpai, have you met the pretty lady yet? She is so nice and kind to Tobi and Tobi just wants to stay with her all day! Can you stay with us too?"

I imagined that under the orange mask his eyes would be wide as saucers as he would have his lips turned into a begging pout. Either Deidara didn't think about this or he sincerely didn't care about the kid. "I have stuff to do, yeah. Go bother someone else for once, un."

Tobi seemed to deflate at his words and was instantly whining like a child. "But Senpai…"

As their argument became more of a background noise than my main focus, I turned back to the counters to start cleaning up the mess from cooking breakfast. My mind drifted and my eyes glazed over, the world around me disappearing.

I was so far away from Team Seven yet I still felt like they lurked around every corner. Akatsuki was the best place for me right now even though I had been raised with the understanding to kill them on sight. They hadn't hurt me yet and after the time I'd spent here so far, I don't think they will.

My team, my comrades, did the absolute unthinkable and the memories, the bruises, the deep gashes in her skin that had yet to heal, were rude reminders of what they had done. I had been made a fool and never have I ever felt so weak in my life.

When I slowly receded from the depths of my mind, I realize how quiet it had gotten. I glanced up from the counter to where Kisame was still on the couch, Itachi was standing in the doorway, and Tobi was frozen in his spot a few feet from me. All of their eyes bore into me and for the second time in my life, I saw how Kisame didn't have even a resemblance of a smirk on his lips.

"What?" I choked out, chiding myself at once at how terribly frail I sounded even to my own ears.

A quiet, childlike voice met my ears. "Tobi doesn't like it when Sakura-san cries." His voice was small and cautious; a gentle plead for something I couldn't quite make out. I didn't have to see his face behind the mask to know that he was sad for me.

As I did whenever I didn't know what to do, I smiled at them. It was quick and probably didn't look very convincing since my bottom lip trembled but I did the best I could and swiped at the tears that were instantly replaced from my cheeks.

"I'm alright Tobi, honest. If you don't mind, I've been up for a while and think it would be best if I got some rest. I'll see you guys later." I quickly tried to pass by them but before I could even make it to the doorframe, a hand latched onto my elbow.

Tobi's grip was firm but gentle and his intentions were obvious through the small touch. "Tobi wishes to stay with Sakura-san."

I tried to pull my arm loose but it was no use. "I said I'm okay. I just want some alone time." It was hard to keep from snapping but I did my best.

His grip tightened in the slightest. "Tobi is not leaving Sakura-san alone." The masked man guided me out of the kitchen after that, bringing me through the tangle of stone hallways for an unrecognizable amount of time before we came to two wide, double wooden doors.

Tobi's gloved hand pushed the right door open, revealing a dim-lit room. I couldn't tell what the dark shadows were at first but when I did recognize the tall rows of shelves, tears leaked out of my eyes even more than before.

"Tobi thought Sakura-san would want somewhere quiet to grieve her past."

I turned to him only to notice that he had already been looking at me through the eyehole in his mask. Despite not the fact that I was taking comfort in a cold-hearted criminal, I allowed the tears to fall freely and for my sobs to fill the echoing and empty library.


	4. Chapter 4- Threats

Chapter 4- Sakura

Dinner that night was beyond awkward.

The boys had ordered take-out; something that seemed to be a popular choice by the amount of empty containers in the trashcan. Sweet scents filled the kitchen and accompanying living room while we all sat silence.

For once, no one insulted or denied Tobi when he requested that I didn't cook that night; I guess they had all decided that since I was the only girl that I would be the designated chef of the facility. I was extremely thankful that he decided to tone down his energy levels for a little while.

Since the Akatsuki apparently didn't have any back-up dining tables, we had to improvise for the time being until someone was able to go to town and get a new one. Pein, Sasori, and Zetsu weren't there but Kisame was sitting on the couch with Deidara, Hidan and Kakazu were on the floor with their backs against the wall, Itachi was standing awkwardly in the middle of the adjoining rooms and Tobi was next to me with his back against the counter as I sat perched on the top of the granite.

No one spoke a word and I didn't know if it was because of the obviously emotional kunoichi in their presence or if it was just a regular thing for them. The more logical part of me assumed it was the former, finding it hard to believe that Tobi and Hidan could ever be as quiet as they were on their own accord.

I barely ate the rice and dumplings that were warming my cold hands, too many unwelcome thoughts running through my mind to really maintain an appetite. I knew I should eat at least a little something; it had been a few days since consuming a single morsel of food, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I could tell they were all glancing at me every few seconds, some making it more obvious than others. Tobi would slyly turn his head as if just randomly glancing around the room but when I continuously felt that lone eye falling on me, I realized what he was doing.

Hidan had no qualms about full out staring at me, for once with no anger or smugness on his face. Kisame shot me glances more than anyone else but he tried to hide it. Bless him; he's probably the worst at stealth missions out of them all.

Never in my life would I imagine being where I was now, having the Akatsuki within the same vicinity as me without trying to stick a katana through my chest. They were actually being somewhat... cordial. If anything, they looked worried that I was to spontaneously combust at any moment.

With a sigh, I finally put my food down next to me and slid off of the counter, wincing as the counter edge dug into a deep gash on my lower back. A firm hand immediately landed on my left shoulder but I paid Tobi no mind. "I'm going to go visit e library again. Please let me know if you need anything." I don't know what compelled me to add the last part in but I said it unconsciously.

I slowly began to make my way towards the door, feeling all of their eyes on me as I passed them. I quickly figured out that it was my dreary presence that had rendered them all into silence because as soon as I made it down the hall, a low murmur of voices followed after me.

I blatantly ignored them and shuffled through the torch lit hallway, my footsteps making soft thuds against the gray stone. The library was straight ahead, making it easy to not get lost. I was in a daze the whole way there, only slightly aware of my surroundings. I had long gotten used to the stench of dirt and sweat that lingered in the air.

I was too lost in my thoughts to notice that the library doors were already propped open and I walked right in, blankly gazing at the many shelves full of books and scrolls. If the past few days had never happened, I knew I would be running up and down the aisles, excited to read every word that I could possibly could.

I slowly walked up to the first shelf and glanced at the scrolls, deciphering the foreign words that were engraved on the outer paper. Surprisingly, even with the different languages that they were written, everything was in alphabetical order; not a single one out of place.

My fingers ghosted over the title of a specific book when I caught the words on the spine and it sent shivers down my spine. '_Betrayals of the Shinobi World' _was made about ten years ago, three months after my tenth birthday.

I remember seeing the very same book on the 'new arrivals' cart at the Konaha Public Library but it was quickly taken over to the restricted section that only approved those of Chuunin status or greater. Even when Tsunade permitted me to have access to basically anything I wanted while being her apprentice, I never felt the need to read it. I had only wanted to learn more techniques but I never held interest in knowing the faults and wrongs of the shinobi before me.

Just as my fingers curled around the spine, preparing to pull it off of the shelf, a false cough echoed in the vast room and I wheeled around to face the wooden red-head. Sasori sat in a large, black armchair that sat near a fireplace with his feet placed firmly on the floor and a dark green book settled in his hands.

The man's lifeless eyes took in my surprised features and soon traveled downward and back up again. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips and the fog in Sakura's mind vanished instantly.

"You have changed since the last time we met," his smooth voice said quietly making me flinch from the lack of malice I had expected to be there.

"Yes, so have you. If I remember correctly, you shouldn't be alive and talking right now."

His smile grew in size but in no way, shape, or form did it provide me with any comfort. "It's a wonder what puppetry can do for a person, eh?"

My eyes narrowed in the slightest as I recalled everything that had been lost that day only for him to still be alive. Granny Chiyo gave her life for me, for the sake of everyone to finally end Sasori; yet, he was still here. "More like do _to_ a person," I muttered under my breath, earning me a chuckle.

"So what brings you to this old place? I would've thought that you'd hole yourself up in that room of yours for a few more days."

I hadn't been in the room for more than five minutes and I was ready to punch him through a wall. "I would be if I had known you were here first."

"Itachi-san and I are always in here for one reason or another if not on a mission. I don't have the need to eat so it is rare for me to join the rest of them for meals."

I nodded, understanding instantly why he didn't eat. I wouldn't either if I were just a big hunk of wood.

My eyes traveled away from the Akatsuki member and back to the book, about to take it off the shelf but again, his voice stopped me. "If we sparred again, do you think you would stand a chance against me without my dear grandmother aiding you?" I was surprised that he didn't sound cocky or smug but I couldn't help but clench my fists at the mention of the family he had succeeded in being the cause of death for.

My head nodded stiffly up and down. "I do. I've had many more years of training since then."

His eyes met mine as he suddenly appeared next to me. Sasori's pale, wooden hand slid the book into place while continuing his awkward gaze. "Well then, why don't we see how far you've come?"

"Right now?" I guess alone time in this base was virtually nonexistent.

He nodded in response and waited as the cranks in my head turned. I had barely any chakra in my system; the drugs that had been given to me by Team Seven still ensuring that all my chakra networks wouldn't get too high.

I couldn't heal the gashes in my skin or the dark bruises that seemed to discolor most spaces over my entire body. Despite all of this, I knew how much I needed a good spar. I needed something to distract me and keep my mind off of the main reason of me being here.

Swinging my fists at helpless trees wouldn't do anything to stop the images but maybe being in a spar that I actually had to _think_ about would do the trick. At this point, I was desperate for a break of the nightmares for even a few minutes.

"Let's get on with it then," I mumbled, watching his face contort into an eerie smile as he transported us to the training grounds above the bas with a few hand signs. He walked backwards slowly as we both took in our surroundings of dark, tumbling clouds and soft, cool wind. The breeze shifted Sasori's Akatsuki cloak towards me and I shivered while watching it. The red clouds shifting and bunching before releasing and flowing in a new direction. It was mesmerizing for absolutely no reason.

"Sakura."

I looked up from the hem of his coat. "Yes?"

"I said, we should only do Taijutsu since your chakra levels are not up to their adequate levels. It would be safer to just rely on our strength and reaction skills." Of course Sasori would be the one to say something like that, clearly underestimating what I could do with even the tiniest bit of chakra but I only nodded and slid into a defensive position as he went into offence.

No one moved for a moment, just taking in each other's still figures was enough. Despite him being such a deadly shinobi, I had the slight advantage. While he was probably beyond good in taijutsu, it was my specialty. Sasori wasn't one to actually fight anyway; his puppets did it for him.

All of a sudden, Sasori disappeared and my first instinct was to turn around. Kakashi had used that one a few hundred times and I knew what to do without having to put any thought into it. I wheeled around fast enough to block the sudden incoming kunai with a few of my own and I back flipped to avoid the next missiles aim right for my head, no doubt.

Sasori appeared in front of me again with a sly smile on his lips, taunting her. "This seems like it will be interesting."

Everything escalated quite quickly from there. Trees lay snapped from my natural brute strength that had nothing to do with my chakra and hundreds of senbon were imbedded in the ground from Sasori's own attempts.

Much to my displeasure, he was barely panting while I was full out gasping for air with my hands braced on my knees for support. I was bleeding everywhere, from some of my opponent's attacks and some from only a few days ago that just hadn't healed yet. The one on my back was particularly nasty and stung like a bitch.

The red-head didn't say anything for a while as he watched me but soon grew impatient at the lack of control of my own lungs. "I didn't know you were this out of shape." His comment held dry sarcasm, obviously not enjoying himself as he was moments ago.

I coughed blood out of my mouth with a huff. Words couldn't find me as I bit down on my tongue to keep from crying out. I was hurting everywhere; weak and disoriented. Sasori was obviously getting pissed off more and more with every passing minute that I didn't do anything.

"I wouldn't have offered to spar with you if I knew that this was how it would end up," he called over to me. With tunneled vision, I watched as drops of blood left my body and plummeted to the ground, splattering against the muddy grass.

I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to have my chakra back so that I could pummel him into the ground until he couldn't even talk anymore. I wanted to do so many things but instead, I fell to my knees and gasped as the lading jostled my injuries even more.

My panic rose when I heard his angry huff and the slight clink of metal. "Well, let's see if you can at least dodge this." There was a shuffle and I slowly looked up just in time to see his angry expression and his arm lashing out, throwing the sharp kunai hurtling towards my face.

I couldn't move, I couldn't scream, I couldn't truly comprehend what was happening. Deep down, I didn't mind that the sharp weapon was one second away from piercing my skull. Death was welcome in my world, merely an escape from the pain that weighed me down. I smiled.

Just as the kunai was going to hit me, a large, tan hand appeared in front of my face, stopping it in its tracks. I was stunned, more so when the tall male moved I front of me to block me from Sasori's view.

I could barely breathe when I saw the long black hair tied back and hanging loosely on the back of the dark Akatsuki cloak. Itachi stood tall and powerful, clearly displeased by his comrade's actions.

"Sasori-san, you should have known that the kunoichi was in no position to spar in the first place. It would be appreciated if you end your grudge now. You attacked her first those years ago and it is never expected for a shinobi to lie down and be killed. It is not her fault that you acted carelessly." Itachi's voice was quiet but firm as he defended me.

For the first time ever, I wasn't offended by the fact that he had protected me. He was right anyway; I was not in the best position to be sparing anyway. It would have been different if I hadn't been so injured from the start.

I couldn't see the puppet master's face but I couldn't imagine that he would be too pleased. "She isn't strong enough to be here."

Itachi was quick with his response. "You shouldn't be here either if the only way you can win a fight is against someone already at a physical disadvantage." He paused but when he spoke again, his voice was low and threatening. "If I ever find you trying to harm her with such intentions again, I will make sure that I will make sure that _you_ are the one with a disadvantage. How does no limbs sound?"

There was no response but I assume that the Uchiha got his point across because when he turned to face me, Sasori was gone.

Itachi expressed no emotions but his eyes gave him away; the gentleness that I had never seen in them before easily took what looked like five years off of him. He often looked so much older than he really was, probably due to the lifestyle he had been living for so many years. The burden on his shoulders were more than most could stand.

"Can you walk?" he asked, looking down at me as I struggled to rise from my knees. My erratic breathing came back as the pain increased with my slow movements. I grit my teeth to keep from crying out but the gasps still resounded in the area around us. I was pathetic.

Suddenly, arms were around me and lifting me up from the ground. Unlike I imagined his touch to be for so many years, his hands were gentle as he cradled me to his chest. My head unconsciously fell back against his arm as the soft swaying of his steps lulled me to sleep.

It wasn't long before I heard the familiar creaking of my door opening and then the soft mattress under me. I cracked my eyes open for just a few seconds to see Itachi's onyx eyes staring back at me. He looked nothing like the clan murderer image that I had created over the years. He wasn't rough and mean, he just stood up for what he believed in. He did what he wanted to.

"Rest," his simple command was met with a tired nod as he pulled the silky sheets over my still-bleeding body. Neither of us would be very comfortable if he had done any more than he did. After all, we were just coming to be on good terms with each other.

When I heard the door creak again, my eyes opened again. "Itachi," I called to his retreating figure. He stopped in the doorway but didn't turn to face me again. "Thank you," I mumbled. I didn't expect him to answer and I wasn't offended when he proved me right; but I was surprise when he turned just his head to the side and I saw the ghost of smile on his lips.

He was gone before my head hit the pillow.

… Itachi

I was in a rage. I've never had the urge to hurt someone in the Akatsuki as much as I wanted to as I stepped out of Sakura's room. She had been covered in blood from head to toe and was absolutely exhausted. The fact that she tore up the training area as much as she did in her state was amazing in itself.

I knew where to find the bastard and I was the in seconds, standing in front of the red-head as he gazed into the orange flames from the armchair.

His eyes flitted to me and widened the slightest bit before I grabbed him from the front of his cloak and slammed him roughly into the stone wall across the room. He knew I could kill him and assure that he didn't return back to this world. He knew it very well.

"I warned you all the night I we brought her here that her death would not be pursued any of us. That was not a recommendation. If you _ever_ harm her again, I assure you that you will die and stay dead." I growled, tightening my hold on his neck.

"Fine," he choked out and I dropped him to the ground with a hump. I ignored his muttered curses and insults as I quickly left the room, thinking of a few more thousand ways to end the puppet-masters life.


	5. Chapter 5- Horrors

Chapter 4- Sakura

It took two weeks; two weeks to fall into a schedule at the base where I didn't have to associate with anyone.

I woke up every morning at five, well before anyone else, so that I could sneak into the kitchen and grab an apple. My appetite never came back but I didn't mind. I never even noticed the hunger that much anymore.

The library was my next stop but I was very careful to be in and out within five minutes, knowing full well that any time more than that increased the possibility of running into Itachi or Sasori. I didn't want to show my face after the sparring incident; I was too ashamed.

After gathering what I needed amongst the vast collection of information the Akatsuki had, I would sneak back into my room and seal the door as I always did, assuring that no one would barge in. The smallest of noises made me jump now. The nightmares were always right around the corner.

For hours I would study the forbidden jutsus and hidden techniques that the scrolls held and learned from them which led to the last part of my day; working myself into exhaustion while trying to recreate the jutsus.

I was surprisingly successful with them all and I attributed it to the fact that my chakra had returned and that the control I had on it was still as precise as ever. I'm sure the others in the building thought I was an insane hermit since I never showed my face anymore but I didn't care what they thought. I was getting stronger.

After completing that, I would slowly flare my chakra outwards, trying to locate the Akatsuki members in the building. If they were in their rooms, I would slip into the kitchen and eat a piece of fruit or rice cakes that the men seemed to have a never ending abundance of. If they weren't all sleeping, or seemingly so, I would just go to bed. It's amazing how repetitive something can get in such a small span of time.

My eyes peeled open that morning, the dark doing nothing to drive the terrifying images out of my head. It was the same nightmare every night, if anything, more vivid as the drugs burned out of my system only a few days after my arrival.

I was surrounded by complete silence only until I shifted in my bed, switching on the small lamp that stood on my bedside table. Just as always, no one was in the room with me. I was alone and a small voice in the back of my head told me it was better that way. At least alone, I wouldn't get hurt.

The clock that hung on the wall read 4:06, much earlier than I usually rose but I tore the sheets off of my sweaty body anyway, knowing that exhaustion was better than the dreams that would surely come if I let myself go back to sleep.

Without thinking about it, I shuffled into the attached bathroom and turned the shower on. My clothes were on the ground in seconds as I quickly ducked under the hot jets of water. Showers were probably the most pleasant thing in my life anymore since it pretty much made me drool on the spot. It was the only time that I truly relaxed anymore and let myself feel emotion.

I didn't cry anymore. Nothing else seemed to scare me; not the gory images that I came across in books or the fact that I was homed in the same place as a bunch of S-class criminals that were hell-bent on violent activities.

Too soon, the hot water that eased my stress began to run cold, signaling that it was time for me to get out. I wanted to stay in there all day but it would be no use and just add more money to the Akatsuki's already large water bill.

I wrapped a fluffy white towel around my body and barely glanced in the mirror on my way back to my room, already knowing what I'd see; pale white skin and dark bruises under my dead and empty-looking eyes. It was sickening.

I floated through my room, sliding my clothes over my damp skin and slowly combing through my long hair. It was like I wasn't even in my body; it was on autopilot and doing what I had been doing for the past two weeks without any specific commands.

After wrapping my chakra-burned hands in new bandages until only my fingertips were visible, I unsealed my door and began the short trip to the kitchen. My mind was far away, imagining what it would be like if nothing had ever happened on that mission to Amegakure. I would probably be home right now, sitting at Ichiraku's with my boys and eating ramen.

Kakashi would be thinking of a new way to get out of paying the lunch bill, Sai would be attempting to form words that didn't offend people right from the get-go, and Naruto would be blabbing away about something or another. It was the ritual after most missions we went on and it would have happened again after this mission.

With startling recognition, I realized that my boys weren't _my boys_ anymore. They were evil and inhumane and the main cause of my deepest, darkest nightmares. They had destroyed me; in both the physical and mental aspect. I wanted to forget and move on. I didn't want to relive the horrors every night.

I walked into the kitchen with my head low and my footsteps small, not even paying attention to where I was really going. I didn't notice the seven pairs of eyes that followed my every move. I gently tugged the fridge open but sighed when realizing that there was no fruit left.

Without my normal breakfast ready to go, I decided to skip the meal altogether and leave but a sudden shuffle of feet caught my attention just as I reached the doorway.

My eyes instantly landed on the men sitting around a new, wooden table with take-out containers scattered across the surface. They were all staring while frozen in place, acting more as if they got caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing than anything else.

It was too early for this, I decided, and went to leave but a gruff voice stopped me again. "Damn girl, you look like shit."

Hidan so kindly slammed hands into the table and raised his eyebrows as if expecting me to say he was wrong. With a shrug and a roll of my eyes, I responded with "So?"

"So," Deidara spoke next, "it's obvious that you haven't really been taking care of yourself lately, yeah."

"I've been staying out of the way so I don't see how what I do with my time is a problem."

Kisame lowered his chopstick into his container of white rice and leaned back in his chair with slightly narrowed eyes. "We didn't save you only for you to come here with a plan of self-destruction."

I threw my hands up in the air. "You're the Akatsuki; your job isn't to save damsels in distress!"

"So you would rather us have left you to the hands of your supposed comrades to have their way with you again?" Itachi said in a cold, detached voice.

The room fell deathly silent to the point where a pin drop on the floor could be heard. I didn't dare breathe from fear that every vulgar word that I've ever heard would come spilling out of my mouth all at once which would most likely end me up in a prisoner's cell underground. That would be the last thing that I needed.

Tobi was nervously wringing his hands together, his head bouncing back and forth between Itachi and I while Deidara only clenched his fists. Even Hidan didn't have anything to say but he did look rather angry with that scowl that he so rarely sported.

No one else seemed to know what to say; obviously they were thinking how whatever suspicions they had were either true or false. It wasn't too hard to figure out with the amount of nightmares I had and nervous breakdowns that seemed to consume my life.

For a split second I thought of returning to my room and the second after that I thought about ignoring him and just continuing on with my day like nothing happened but the rebel side of me, the side that literally was made in the hotel weeks ago to keep me alive, wasn't satisfied with that.

_You will still have to face them every day; you will still have to look at their faces and know what they think of you. You will never find peace here. You will never be safe here._

I ran.

It took only a short five seconds for them to decide who to send after me and I was surprisingly happy when I heard the clinking of a chain. I could easily outrun Hidan even on an off day for me and it only miffed me more to know they had such little confidence in my true power. In a real battle, I could stomp the Jashinist out and scrape him off the bottom of my shoe.

"Hey bitch, get back here!" He yelled angrily, not over his little hissy fit in the kitchen. I didn't have a clue what had angered him but I wasn't prepared to stop and figure it out so I flooded chakra into my feet and plowed quickly through the dimply lit halls.

Just when I thought I lost him, Hidan closed in on me and had me cornered at a dead-end hallway. His forehead was damp with perspiration and if looks could kill, I would be well beyond six feet under.

"You can't leave the base bitch, so you better get your ass back into your room before I fucking do it for you." He wasn't bluffing, that much was obvious, but neither was I when I took off. I wanted to leave Akatsuki and I'd be damned if a _wall_ were to stop me.

I smiled darkly, taking the white-haired man by surprise. My right hand curled into a fist and closed my eyes. "Tell everyone I said goodbye."

With a simple flick of my wrist, the wall behind me collapsed in a pile of destroyed rubble and I was gone into the night before Hidan could even see again. It wasn't long before powerful chakra signatures were blazing behind me like a wild fire.

I could slow down, not when it started to pour rain again, not when I landed on a tree branch the wrong way and hurt my ankle, and especially not when Tobi's frantic yelling began to fade. If they were getting farther away then they might have just decided to send Pein after me and that was the absolute last thing I needed.

The difference between night and day was impossible to tell, not with the rain pouring down hard enough to sting my skin. The water was so cold that the constant shivers were enough to make me regret my decision of leaving but the choice was made and I would no doubt be killed if I even attempted to return.

By the time I stopped at a tiny civilian town a good eight hours away from where I started, I was dead on my feet and convulsing from the shivers that wracked my body. I stumbled down the dark street, barely able to read any of the signs that hung in the dim street lights on either side of the cobblestone street.

I was fortunate when a pudgy woman must've seen me from her shop window and rushed out to me. I couldn't her hands on my arm even though I was staring at them as she dragged me out of the cold and into a warm bar. A man that couldn't have been a year older than me was cleaning glasses behind the bar's counter when we came in but it was obvious that panic that he felt when the woman's rushed commands reached him.

I vaguely recognized the feeling of a heavy blanket falling over my shoulders and a warm mug being shoved into my shaky hands but I couldn't get my eyes to focus on anything. Hushed murmurs reached my ears but my mind was too numb to actually process them.

The last thing I realized before I passed out was the dinging of the bell that hung over the door and the relaxed shuffling of three people coming impossibly closer.

…(Itachi)

The brown-haired woman bustled around the small bar, muttering constant questions of what we would like or what she could do for us. The room seemed a lot smaller on the inside from what it seemed in the street which made it even easier to detect Sakura's lingering chakra and cinnamon scent.

"Where is the girl? We know she came through here," Kisame demanded, making the heavy-set female jump at the sudden deepening of his voice. Even from being his partner for so many years, I had never seen him so worked up.

"You mean the kunoichi? We have shinobi come through this town all the time so it's quite easy to point one out. I found her in the street hours ago and brought her in from the rain to warm her up but her teammates came in to retrieve her not even ten minutes later. Those boys were so kind," she added as a last second thought, rubbing the bottom of her chin thoughtfully.

My heart seized as my repetitive breathing pattern faltered. It didn't take a genius to know who had found her and to know that they had found her again because of _my_ reckless choice of words hurt me more than it should have. I am Itachi Uchiha; I shouldn't be feeling anything. Why was I feeling like scum now?

We didn't say anything else to the woman, instead just disappearing in puffs of smoke and meeting by the village gates. Rain was still pouring down in buckets, making it harder to detect a scent or chakra signature.

Kisame was bristling with anger, pacing back and forth quickly in the muddy grass while Tobi leaned against one of the gate walls in complete silence. It was odd not seeing him flinch or twiddle his thumbs at all; his gaze only focused on the ground with his arms crossed over his chest.

Sasori looked none too happy to be out in the rain and neither did Kakazu or Hidan. The two latter looked more angry for other reasons though and it only made the twisting in my chest more painful.

"Kami knows what the hell those fucking bastards are doing to her right now. Can't we just leave her or something? I'm done with dealing with that little bitch," Hidan snarled, his displeasure very clear merely by the tone of his voice.

The shark-like shinobi aggravatingly rubbed his hands over his eyes. "No, we can't just go back without her. She knows where the base is and knows too much as it is. We need to find her and either drag her back or kill her." Kisame obviously struggled to get those last few words out. It was painfully visible how much he disdained the idea of hurting the kunoichi.

"Well can we fucking find her soon? It's fucking cold out here!"

"Hai."

We all took off, quickly rushing past the slick trees around us in our haste. A part of me, a quickly growing part of me, was ready to completely dismember Team Seven for everything they did to the girl I had come to know.

Every night I had to listen to her terrified screams and writhing body. I heard her rise well before anyone else every morning and I always made a point of shielding my chakra as I watched her pick out new scrolls and books every morning. Her ribs would show a little more with each sneaking glance and it pained me to know that.

I hadn't felt any type of feelings for my entire life until I met her; why is that changing now?

The sudden screams that pierced the air around us made every one of us flinch and slide to a stop in the mud that slopped to our ankles. I knew that desperate cry; Kisame and I had first heard it the day we originally saved her from her former teammates. One look from my own partner confirmed to the sneaking hand around my heart that he did indeed know that cry and that he wasn't letting it go. He was attached to her already and knowing him, he would raise hell the second he found her.

We took off in the direction of the fading cries and much to my panic, they stopped altogether. Kisame grunted in anger from beside me as we quickly outpaced the Akatsuki members following us. Both of us felt the urgency to our arrival more than the others and it miffed me more to realize this.

It took entirely too long to finally arrive at the place where the girl's fading chakra led us to. My eyes widened unconsciously to see trees uprooted and the ground utterly destroyed despite the water soaking into it. A struggle was obvious and it seemed even more so when spotting the mop of dirty, pink hair behind a tree.

Kisame lurched forward first while I stood my ground, listening to the other's mumbled words of awe when they saw the complete destruction of the area. It was impressive, even more so while knowing that she had almost no chakra after our chase from before. She had literally fought for her life and that was obviously enough, seeing as her captors weren't anywhere in sight.

I turned my head to watch my partner as his face paled, something I didn't know was possible, as he looked at the figure on the ground. The tree was blocking her from my view but it must've been bad from the way Kisame covered his mouth with one hand and braced his weight against the tree with the other.

My stomach was threatening to heave as curiosity got the best of me and I slowly walked forward with my feet sloshing on the watery ground beneath me. I felt like I was condemning myself with every foot I got closer to my disturbed partner. I had never seen him act like this and it was definitely something I didn't want to see again.

Time slowed as I finally reached the empty space next to him and my breath unconsciously caught in my throat as my eyes fell upon the passed out kunoichi. I could feel my own blood rush from my face as the true horror of the situation fell upon my shoulders.

Sakura lay on her left side, with blood pouring over her face from a deep cut in her right cheek. Her clothes were gone, not even in eyesight while she was only covered in a plain black bra and torn panties. Blood was everywhere, endlessly leaking out of the millions of tiny and large gashes that marred her pale, white skin. Her hair could barely be classified as pink anymore from the red the stained the long locks.

It was sickening to know that her past friends had left her like this, trembling violently on the forest ground with lips blue and in the pouring rain, no less. She looked destroyed, utterly broken and the pang of guilt returned with a vengeance, tearing at my heart in ways that it never had before.

Sakura had done nothing to deserve this; she must've been a poster child for the perfect kunoichi in her village. From past meetings with her, she was loyal to those close to her and never hesitated to put her life on the line for them. She had spunk and she had love in her heart, or at least she used to. It was damn near impossible to expect her to wake up any less than a traumatized victim desperately searching for a way to end the pain.

I knew when the others saw her too from the sudden string of profanities released by Hidan and the whimper that no doubt came from Tobi. Kakazu and Sasori were silent but I didn't expect them to say anything anyway; they were never very talkative to start with.

"Sakura-chan…" Tobi cried silently, feet sloshing in the water as he shifted his weight uncomfortably. She wasn't a pretty sight to look at like this and if she didn't die from blood loss, hypothermia or pneumonia couldn't be that far off.

Kisame suddenly pulled away from the tree and quickly stripped his water-proof cloak off of his body and draped it over the kunoichi. I was still stunned and even more by the way he gently pulled the girl off of the watery ground and into his arms. She looked so small compared to him that it was almost laughable.

I watched with narrowed eyes as his fingers slowly and carefully curled around the edges of the cloak to pull it tighter around her and hopefully warm her up. My blazing sharingan immediately noticed the drops of blood that fell from her body which never ceased. I didn't need to check her pulse to know that she was dying.

Kisame's voice was darker than ever before when he spoke again that no one dared go against his commands. "Sasori, go back to the nearest village and gather any medications and bandages you can get your hands on. Kakazu, take Hidan and Tobi and search for the three Leaf shinobi. If you find those bastards, let me know immediately. We need to find some sort of shelter to get her out of the rain."

The puppet-master grudgingly slipped away from us and disappeared just as we began to follow Kisame's furious running speed to Kami-knows-where. He wasn't going to stop to see reason nor did any of us dare to even try it. The shark man was too wound up to get on his bad side any more.

After running around for another hour, we found a decent sized cave that was cut from the side of a drop-off cliff. My partner didn't wait to start giving more commands of starting a fire and passing over another cloak to add to the girl's warmth.

I didn't hesitate to shrug mine off this time, laying it gently over her shivering figure. Her blood was quick to form a puddle underneath her and start trailing back towards the mouth of the cave. Everything was happening so fast that nothing processed in my mind and it worried me since I was usually the one who paid attention to everything.

I was dragged out of my thoughts when my partners mumbled words met my ears. Kisame looked exhausted while leaning up against the cave wall, a protective hand curled around Sakura's arm.

"What was that?" I asked, turning my tired eyes over to his surprisingly infuriated expression.

"I said, this is your entire fault!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He was suddenly on his feet, slamming me into the rock wall with a speed that was hard for even me to keep up with. His eyes blazed with strong emotions that looked quite similar with the intent to kill. "Yes, it is! You know more than anybody else in this organization how touchy some subjects are. I understand that you aren't very fond of her but you were at first, okay? We're the only reason she made it this far but it's your fault for saying some stupid shit that you _knew_ would make her angry.

"Look at her; look at her and take in every damn flaw on her body with your damn sharingan and realize that _you_ caused it. It's _your_ fault Itachi and I swear to Kami that if something happens to her, I will kill you."

"Is that a threat?"

Kisame's blazing eyes never budged from mine as he slowly relinquished his hold on my mesh shirt and stepped back. "No, it's a promise," he growled.

It was obvious how taken aback I was; it was rare for anyone other than Pein to threaten me but my muscles wouldn't listen to me when I tried to attack him. I stayed rooted in my spot as Kisame walked back to where he was before and sat next to Sakura. The sad aura floating around him was sickening. He was truly scared for her life.

The rain continued on even four hours later when Sasori finally returned with bandages and disinfectant creams. I've never been so joyed to see the puppet master but for the first time in my life, I couldn't stand the silence that hung inside of the cave.

Kisame had shuffled closer to her a while ago when he realized that her life was fading even more, along with her body temperature. When Sasori stepped towards them, the cold glare that was sent in his direction stopped him mid-step.

"Just let me fucking do it," Kisame grumbled, quickly snatching the materials out of the red-head's hands. He ignored the glare that Sasori returned to him and instead focused on the kunoichi.

The three of us held our breaths as Kisame slowly peeled the two cloaks off of her filthy body. It was bad enough that her ribs were sticking out from lack of nourishment on her part but the injuries she sustained made her look unreal.

Her breathing was labored and harsh, forcing little drops of blood to fall from the worse of the cuts on her. She was so pale that it looked more like blood-stained snow than on human skin. Kisame was careful while wadding up some gauze pads and using the soft material to dab away blood enough to clean the wounds.

Much to my displeasure, everything was so much worse when the blood wasn't in the way. The wounds were obviously made by someone blatantly stabbing her and dragging the weapon through her skin and muscle tissues, severing nerves and veins along the way. Flaps of skin hung around in awkward positions from the jagged movements of the kunai used to hurt her.

A sudden flare of chakra informed us that the remaining three were finally here and caught up to our temporary shelter. Despite this, Kisame still tensed up immediately at their entrance and seemed to hover even closer to the kunoichi.

Before any of them could question his wariness, Hidan whispered long and low. "Oh damn, they sure did a number on her." He wasn't joking around this time, that much was obvious from the frown on his lips.

Kakazu stepped up to the girl and knelt down silently, barley making a noise in the process. Without a word, he grabbed the small bottle of peroxide and poured a decent amount into each wound, pushing strings out of his neck to stitch up the gashes.

We were all taken off guard by his silent actions. He didn't hesitate in the least bit to help and he seemed oblivious to the shocked gazes that were trained on him. Normally he would bitch about having to help someone without some sort of payment in return.

Just as he rolled her over to continue on her back, we all froze. Deep claw marks marred her skin, almost like…

"Kakashi's ninken," I spoke quietly, watching sadly as Kisame's anger flared up.

Kakazu just pushed him to the side even more to finish his job when something else caught his eye. He brushed the drying blood away only to curse under his breath.

The world fell on my shoulders then when I finally saw what had horrified even him. I realized what my stupid words had done; I realized the weight of my mistakes. She would forever have nightmares about this and she would most likely hate to look in the mirror after she saw what was now on the back of her right shoulder.

'Die, whore," was carved in deep, careful letters with bruises in the shape of a hand on the back of her neck, probably from someone trying to hold her down.

I instantly dropped my head to the ground, shame taking over every plausible thought in my mind but I still didn't miss the deadly glare the Kisame pointed directly at me. The message he was sending to me was so clear, in fact, that I didn't even have to look at him to know what he was thinking.

_I will kill you; that's a promise._


	6. Chapter 6- Found

Chapter 6- Itachi

When I was thirteen years old, I destroyed my clan. I stole from my room in the late hours of the night and killed them all with one exception; my brother. I couldn't stand the tears in his eyes and it was like taking a katana through the heart when the same eyes that once looked upon me with such admiration had turned cold and hateful towards me.

There was nothing I could do to stop it from happening nor could I talk words of reason into his mind after everything he had seen. The deed was done and so Sasuke's life mission was formed. He became fueled by his hatred and was forever driven to kill me.

The point is, I had no remorse for my actions and to this day, I still feel that their deaths were the only thing that could be done to save Konaha; that my actions were justified. I have never known what grief or regret feels like but if the tightening in my stomach was anything like those emotions, I didn't want anything to do with it.

Kisame hovered over the kunoichi all night, growling like a hound whenever someone came within ten feet of them. Maybe it had something to do with his past; he always was so adamant at keeping his childhood a secret. Whatever was causing him to act like this, I didn't like it.

The shark-man had threatened to kill anyone who didn't pass up their Akatsuki cloaks to the girl when the temperature dropped even more with the disappearing sun yet no one even grumbled in the slightest. Again, I don't know if it was from Kisame's threats or if they wanted to see her alive and kicking again; maybe both.

It was about two hours after the sun went down that her fever came out of nowhere. It was expected, honestly, with the lack of clothes she had on when running away from us and the torrential downpour that she was caught in for hours.

Her condition got worse from there when her fever got bad enough for her to start sweating, cooling down her body temperature to a dangerous level. It didn't help that we were probably only a month away from the first snowfall of winter, making the air bitingly harsh. Soon enough, her heated panting turned into teeth-rattling shivers and her lips turned a darker shade of blue.

Kisame slowly lifted his hand and with a gentleness that I'd never seen, rested it on the side of cheek. His finger carefully traced the deep cut in her cheek that would no doubt be a scar once healed while we all warily watched him.

Tobi was unusually quiet as he sat in the very back of the cave, his elbows resting precariously on top of his knees. Aside from him, it was the partners who sat beside each other; Hidan and Kakazu a few feet away from Tobi while Deidara and Sasori seemed to take up guard duty by the mouth of the cave. We were all silent, not having spoken a single word in hours. For once, the silence was unnerving.

Suddenly, a voice echoed around us, stirring most of us out of our minds. "What are you doing, yeah?" Deidara's voice was unexpectedly curious rather than hostile while gazing at the obvious affection his comrade had for her.

He didn't get a response for a while but the single question had aroused everyone's curiosity. "Trying to comfort her."

"Why?" Deidara questioned, tilting his head slightly as if trying to see them in a different light.

Kisame sighed. "Because she doesn't deserve this. The girl was so bright and so loyal to her comrades but look what they did to her. You don't have to be as smart as the Uchiha to figure out what happened."

"You don't have to fucking be her damn savior though. You can take her ass back to the village and tell them to fucking contact the Leaf Village. They'll come get her," Hidan spoke but barely finished before Kisame whirled around with fire burning in his eyes.

"Why, so they can send her 'sympathetic' team to come save her? They'll fucking kill her and claim they got attacked by rogue Nin of some bullshit like that!"

"It's not your responsibility to take care of her," Sasori spoke up quietly, calming the rage as quick as it had appeared.

He looked down at Sakura's face again, trailing his index finger to her right temple where the cut began. "Then whose responsibility is it?" He turned a questioning gaze to the red-head who remained quiet. "Who is going to take care of her when she wakes up and won't know what to do with her life, when she sees what they did to her, when she realizes she has no village to go to? Who's going to do it?"

Of course he was right; no one had to tell him that either because we all knew it. Every one of us knew what it feels like to be exiled and not welcome in our own home villages. She couldn't go home and if she doesn't go home, she becomes a missing Nin, a traitor, an enemy.

"We keep her."

Every head swiveled in my direction, even Kisame who looked more bewildered than the rest.

"_What? _Are you crazy?" Kakazu ridiculed, a deep frown marring his stitched face.

I looked down at her pale face with guilt twisting in my gut. "We owe her that much."

Sasori glared at me, decided to put his two cents in as well. "We are Akatsuki; we owe nothing to anybody."

Before I could even respond back with a sentence that would be full of nasty threats and swears, a normally childish voice beat me to it, sounding more serious than ever before. "Tobi thinks we should keep her. Akatsuki kills too much without reason. It is time to have something to fight for."

I froze and so did everyone else in the large cave. Tobi, the complete and utter idiot of the entire organization and who honestly has a death wish when it comes to pissing off Deidara, just made the best point out of all of us.

The only reason we killed was when someone got in our way or if Pein told us to. We never had a truly good reason to end a life nor did we ever hesitate to do so. That's why the bounties on our heads were outrageous and no one even tried to attack us for money. We're good, really good, but we're heartless and cold. Would having an attachment to something really be that bad?

Hidan's answer was apparent when he dropped his head into his hands with a groan. "Well _fuck, _Tobi! Why do you have to be right now?"

"Cause' he's damn annoying, yeah."

"Tobi is right because Tobi knows how to care," he spoke, once more stunning us into silence.

I turned my sharingan eyes on him, trying to see through the bright orange mask to see any emotion, anything that would betray his true thoughts. It would be easy to deceive us now, the way he was casual and calm (which was rare all in its own) and the caring tone he took when speaking about the pinkette.

He swiveled his head towards me before I even had the chance to turn away and pierced me with a lone onyx eye.

"We can care," I spoke quietly as conversations started up about what it would be like to actually have another girl hanging around the base.

Tobi replied loud enough for everyone to hear. "Anyone can care. Akatsuki just chooses not to." He stood up slowly, soon towering over the rest of u as he silently walked over to the entrance. "Tobi is going to scout the area."

When his chakra signature felt almost nonexistent, Deidara sighed. "He's not stupid, yeah."

Kisame glanced up. "You can't be in Akatsuki and be as stupid as he acts. There has to be at least a little something under that mask. I bet we only caught a glimpse of it tonight."

"She won't last a fucking day as an official member."

"You can't know that yet. She got away from us successfully, remember, yeah?"

"She fucking got caught by her own damn teammates and now she's fucking dying. She's not that damn stealthy," Hidan huffed, glaring at Deidara as they argued back and forth.

"It's not about stealth, yeah. It's taxing on the body to hide her amount of chakra for so long, running at such speeds over such a distance as she did. No wonder she got caught, yeah."

"Yeah, cause' she's fucking weak."

"She's not weak! Remember who killed Sasori first, yeah!"

"Enough," Kisame ordered. "I'm damn tired and don't want to listen to you two. She stays with us and that's final."

The arguing stopped on the dime but Hidan being Hidan decided to push the subject a little more. "What the hell is wrong with you, Sushi? She's an enemy but you fucking treat her like an angel." Hidan's eyebrows drew together in concentration. "Why do you care so much?"

I've never seen Kisame this sad and he didn't even try to hide his emotions. It was something that none of us were used to seeing; usually the only emotion anyone in the Akatsuki used was anger and occasionally some dry humor. Now, he was wearing his heart out on his sleeves in quite a literal sense.

"I don't know why I care; I just do."

His simple response was enough to satisfy the Jashinist for now as he wordlessly lay his head down on the cold, damp stone and closed his eyes. We ignored his muttered comment of 'this is fucking bullshit' and relaxed as well.

My head was pounding from the overexertion of my sharingan and a small part of me wondered what the chances were of getting Sakura to try and heal them. On orders from Pein, I've been all over almost every country that we've happened across, looking for a medic that might be possibly good enough to heal my eyes enough to even see objects clearly. It's been almost four years since I've seen colors as vibrant as they should be. It's been almost six since I've last read a book. I'm almost completely blind and if she couldn't help me, no one could.

There was nothing comforting about the stone hard floor when I attempted to find the slightest bit of relaxation. We had all long forgotten what it was like to feel the soft touch of anyone, family or women that we've met. The last few missions that we've been assigned to have completely destroyed who any of us are as people. If I thought about it enough, I could still hear the merchant's wife screaming as she watched me stick a katana through her husband's chest. It was an order from Leader-sama since he was supposedly spreading information about Akatsuki. It still haunts me to know that his kids were only right down the hallway from where it happened.

I fought back the shudder of horror and composed myself once more, slowly falling into unconsciousness. Tonight was different though. Instead of dreaming nothing like usual, images of what I imagined Sakura's face to be flew across my mind. Her smile was kind and gentle as she gazed at me with a kind of warmth that I could only imagine someone giving me.

A lightly tanned hand reached out to me as a sparkle shimmered in her viridian eyes. The laughter that filled my ears was like chiming bells. My guard was down but I realized that I didn't care; I only wanted her in my arms.

I slowly reached my own arm out, trying to latch my fingers onto a strand of her pink hair that was gently blowing in the wind but just when she was within my reach, her piercing scream stabbed me like a kunai in the chest.

With a flash of lightning, she was suddenly lifeless on the ground and bloodied. Her eyes were open and staring at my face with such agony and… betrayal.

My stomach clenched as I watched her try to crawl away from me but the horrible injuries that covered her body restrained her from doing so. With a dying whimper, her eyes rolled towards the ground to watch the red seep into the soil, staining the ground with crimson.

"I-ta-chi…" she cried out, tears running down her face. "I- I still love you."

I looked upon her with horror and stumbled backwards. Wasn't she just trying to get away from me? Why would she still love a monster like me if I just did… this?

I flinched when something cold touched my cheek and with utter surprise, I realized it was Sakura's pale hand. It wasn't tan anymore but something else caught my attention. It glimmered almost as much as my eyes as sad smile crossed Sakura's face at my discovery. "It's still as beautiful as the day you gave it to me," she mumbled, watching me closely.

It only made my blood run colder when she said that because my tears began to fall then, blurring the diamond wedding band on her left ring finger.


	7. Chapter 7- Get Her Out

Chapter 7- Itachi

We had to move.

It was like an omen the second that we all awoke to a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning. Something wasn't right.

We were on our feet in seconds, Kisame pulling the kunoichi into his arms like he had been doing it his entire life; like it was the most obvious thing in the world. My hands tightened into fists without my permission which just angered me more than usual. I was the master of deception so why was this simple girl breaking past all those barriers I set up? How is it possible that it angered me when someone else took care of her? Why did I care?

There was not much time to delve more into my thoughts when I sensed the first sign of danger. The smallest, faintest flare of chakra about seven miles away was more of a red flag the instant I felt it. We were too far away from the village for it to be a passing shinobi. No, someone was looking for us and they knew exactly where they were going.

With our bags on our shoulders and our bodies tense, we stole into the night in the opposite direction from where our unknown enemy was. There were exactly twenty six of them with as much chakra as a regular Jounin. Not that it was a smart thing to judge a shinobi by the amount of chakra they had; it was how they wielded it that truly mattered.

Our attackers weren't very fast but we refused to take a chance. We flew though pouring rain as we approached Ame; positive that we would be safe once we reached there. It didn't matter whether the Hokage herself was ten feet from any one of us in this village; she would have no idea that we were there.

It was a special jutsu that Pein had created three years ago that completely morphed our chakra signals the second we were at our base or in town. It was useful and probably the sole reason why the base in Ame was the main attraction to us Akatsuki. We could be ourselves without worry of attack or a sudden war breaking out. Someone had to know exactly where we or our base was to even attempt to find us. We would be long gone before they even arrived.

No one was in the streets when we finally got there; all of them driven into their dirty and shabby homes from the relentless rain that seemed so much worse than usual. It made it easy to pass through quickly without having to deal with their excited and thankful looks that they always gave us. They worshipped us and honestly, it was beyond creepy.

The smallest blur of pink that was visible through my destroyed eyes was my main focus in the last few miles to our destination. It angered me to know that I wasn't the one carrying her and that we were in this predicament because of _my_ stupidity. I should have kept my mouth shut and not let my guard down for that split second. If I had kept my emotions in more, I wouldn't have spout out those terribly true words. She wouldn't be scarred for life.

I was silently thankful when a large stone blur came into view. We had already passed through the gen-jutsu that we put around the base to avoid _anyone_ passing through it. Only Akatsuki members had those privileges and it made it easier to relax when we ever have the chance to.

Deidara was the one who performed the jutsu to open the jut in the wall. The blonde didn't waste any time rushing in first either, eager to go fix his precious hair. Kisame barreled in after, immediately rushing towards the living room.

I knew his plan and was happy that for once he was using his brain. She would warm up more by the fire than she would in her own room even if we piled blankets on top of her. The kunoichi would just have to deal with living on the couch for now.

Hidan, Kakazu, Sasori, and Tobi followed us into the small room but soon just leaked into the kitchen for their real motives. It was strange to not hearing the Tobi's incessant rambles and it was stranger to _feel_ the depression that was practically rolling off of him. I always knew that he hid his true power under that stupid mask but it was terrible to witness it firsthand. It was unnatural.

I stood in the doorway as my usually rough teammate laid the kunoichi down softly; her pale and sweaty face rolling to the side the second that his blue arm wasn't supporting her anymore. I grit my teeth when his hand lingered on her cheek for a moment, tracing against the moist skin. He was Akatsuki; this was the last thing he should be doing. He wasn't her babysitter and neither was I but at the same time, it bothered me to imagine anyone else taking care of her. She was already ours, no matter how disturbing that thought was.

As if reading my thoughts, Kisame's head shot up towards me as he lowered himself down to his knees. "She needs someone to be there for her."

"And why do you think it has to be you?" I made sure that my voice was steady, strong; emotionless. Even if I was falling apart on the inside, it doesn't mean that they have to see it too.

Kisame thought for a moment, gazing upon the young girl's face before, "Because I don't want her to be like us. I've seen what it did to you and Deidara and Sasori and even Hidan. You all had something inside of you that you lost after years of being here and in the shinobi world. I saw the raw terror that was in her eyes that first night and I never want to see that again. I want to keep her away from all that. I want to let her heal."

I had no words to respond with; my tongue tied from the truth of his words. I didn't want to see that happen to her either. I wanted to see what her smile looked like and what her happiness looks like. I want to see a sparkle in those large viridian eyes. I want to see it all.

I settled down in the large armchair in the corner of the room and watched as the three members in the kitchen slowly finished their meals and wandered into the living room again. They didn't even hesitate to sit down on the floor and pushing their backs against the walls. They didn't hesitate to close their eyes and relax. They didn't hesitate to spend all their time in the large room until the kunoichi that was quickly melting their hearts, woke up.

….

It was terrible.

The girl mumbled under her breath all night, her head being tossed back and forth as her unconsciousness wreaked havoc in her mind. She was trapped in a world of pain and horror and all we could do was sit back and watch as her soft cries evolved into whimpers which turned into full blown screaming.

She was seeing things that made her beg and please for death to consume her and Tobi left after only five minutes, probably unable to handle such things. Tobi was sensitive and most likely ready to throw up the remains of his meal the second he got to his room. He tried to hide the way his hands balled into fists right before he left but I didn't miss it even though he was attempting to cover it with his sleeve. This was really bothering him.

Kisame knew as well as I did that waking her up wasn't an option; this was just terrible side effects from traumatic events and a fatal fever. Despite this, he didn't leave her side even when I abruptly stood up and left the room. I needed to kill something. I needed to break something. I was losing my mind.

I stormed quietly down the dark hallway, barely concealing my raging chakra. I was beside myself and absolutely infuriated by _her_. How could someone so miniscule, so weak walk into my life and rip my mask of nonchalance away from me? How is it possible that a pink haired _girl_ reduced Kisame into someone who gives a damn about another human being? What powers could she possibly possess to completely make the Akatsuki members melt into the palms of her hands? What was she?

I don't quite know what led me to Pein's office or what made me lift a hand to knock on the thick, wooden door. My mind was in jumbles, bouncing from left to right to find any knowledge of something like this. The situation wasn't natural but it would be fixed if it was the last thing I did.

"You may enter," a voice called out. I listened closely but no malice or underlying anger could be heard so at least he was in a good mood. I pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside the dim lit room until I was right before Leader-sama's large, oak desk. His cold eyes lingered on his paperwork and did not come to me but I knew enough that he was paying attention. He always was.

With as much patience as I could muster up, I made my voice calm and collected. "I would like to talk to you about something."

The orange-haired man sighed and waved his hand around a bit while crossing off two names from a long sheet of parchment paper. "What is it Itachi?"

A slight pause. "I want the kunoichi gone."

As if I had dumped water on him, Pein's eyes were suddenly on me as he threw his pen down on the desk and leaned back into his chair. I clearly had his full attention. "Is that so? Tell me, what has got you all riled up? Last time I checked, you accompanied her retrieval, did you not?"

"She is not good for our goals or motivation. The kunoichi has too many problems and is too emotional to stay here and the last thing we need is to constantly be having to turn around and make sure she is safe."

Pein narrowed his eyes at me. "What is she doing that is so terrible for our organization?"

I felt my own anger slipping through the cracks of my façade. "Have you not seen a change? They are beginning to have emotions. They are _feeling_."

Our leader actually smirked at that, not helping me contain myself in the least bit. "And what is so wrong with that? What if she gives them more of a motivation to fight?"

"That's what Tobi said."

He frowned at me. "Do not underestimate him, Uchiha. He is here for a reason and no matter how childish he seems, he is a powerful asset as will the kunoichi. How did her second retrieval go anyway?"

I blinked back the bloody images that suddenly filled my mind and focused on the man in front of me. "She was caught by her former team before we could reach her." I cringed slightly. "She is not in the best of conditions right now."

Pein grimaced at the mental images that he thought of on his own. "Will she live?"

"Yes."

"And you don't wish for her to?"

I didn't respond but that was answer enough for Pein. He leaned forward in his seat and crossed his hands over the top of his desk. "I'll tell you what, Itachi. Wait for her to get better and when another member deems her health satisfactory, then you can do whatever you want to get her to leave. Make her life a living hell if you want, I don't care. If she still doesn't leave within a week from your antics, then I will choose for her to battle someone. If she stands her ground long enough then she stays as an official member whether you like it or not."

I was immediately pleased with the proposition. There was no doubt that I would be able to get her to leave within a week. I'm a master of the sharingan and I doubt that she would even survive one genjutsu. She's already as good as dead.

Pein didn't look too happy with the change in my mood and he voiced his thoughts. "I can't believe that she's this big of a thorn in your side. It's not like she is an ugly thing; can't you find some use out of her? You are a man after all, Itachi; not some machine."

"I do not need unnecessary attachments to my life. Women are not needed."

Pein scoffed but relaxed back into his chair. "Such a stupid boy… Anyway, you are dismissed. Remember, you are not to harm or provoke her until her health is passed. If she is to be a future member, I don't need you ruining it with your damn pride and ego."

Any parting words would have been useless since he diverted his attention completely away from me and back to his paperwork once again. I turned quietly and left the room with only the soft _click_ of the door as any indication.

My thoughts were running away with me again as I thought back to the dream from the night before. Even though I had never clearly seen her face, her beauty was defined and clear as she writhed in pain by my feet. It hurt my chest when she mentioned the ring and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what had caused that scene to play out in my mind.

I had no connections to the kunoichi nor did I want as much. I would be genuinely pleased to see her dead and out of our lives; to see the Akatsuki back to our previous glory. Despite wanting her life to cease, I couldn't help the hatred I felt towards the Konaha Nin.

It has been a very long time since I have been in the Hidden Leaf Village but it is highly unlikely that the new shinobi being created are so cruel towards their ex-teammates. Something wasn't right and it proved my point even more when I thought of _who_ had committed the crimes.

Naruto, from what I know, revolves his life around his friends and would do anything to save them if need be. Why would he suddenly change and attempt to kill the very woman that he grew up with?

Kakashi is no different. He is lazy and quiet but he would happily give his life to save a teammate or friend. Despite his laid-back ways, he was quite the opponent who seemed to just not die no matter what challenges were thrown his way. Why would he go as far as this?

Again, something wasn't right and I'd be damned if I didn't figure out what it was.

….

(Kakashi)

My eyes snapped open as I flung myself off of a worn, wooden floor. A terrible stench filled the air around me and my head felt like a kunai was wedged in between my eyes.

A low groan rumble from my throat and I suddenly realized how sore it was. What the hell had happened?

Just as I went to brush my damp hair off of my forehead, a sight so sickening caught my attention. My hands were soaked in blood; blood that wasn't mine. I couldn't take my eyes off of the red that stained my skin or the mud that was wedged underneath my fingernails. The worst part was not knowing who I had fought. My memory was gone, blank up from the moment that Team Seven got to the civilian village after our mission. What had happened…?

"Sensei," a sudden voice called out, making me wheel around and my head spin in circles. Naruto had his back propped up against a wall and Sai next to him. They were both covered in blood too, it being smeared across their faces and down their chests. My ninken stood around us with looks as menacing as Orochimaru himself.

I immediately realized who was missing and it sent my heart into overdrive. "Where's Sakura?" I asked, panicked.

Naruto looked paler than Sai as he opened his mouth to answer but Pakkun growled at me and got right in my face. "You're fucking kidding me, right? I have stood by you for years and stood by your father as well but I've _never_ been asked to do such a horrible thing. You should be fucking ashamed of yourselves."

I looked at him, confused. That's when I noticed the blood that covered his muzzle and paws. The rest of my dogs who looked just the same turned to growl at me too. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

Pakkun suddenly barred his teeth and positioned himself as if he was ready to attack me. "Don't act like you don't know! We are fucking bound to you by blood and I swear that is the only thing keeping us from killing you ourselves! If you _ever_ force us to attack someone like that again, I will end my own life. I draw the line here, Kakashi."

"Attack _who_, Pakkun?" I urged, desperately wanting to know who in the hell was hurt.

"It was Sakura, you fucking idiot! Do you not remember what you had us do? Do you not remember having Naruto and Sai hold her down as you stabbed her with kunai and slashed her skin? Do you not remember forcing us to attack her until she couldn't cry for help anymore? Do you fucking remember cutting her clothes off of her body and…"

"It's a lie," Naruto cut him off with a hoarse voice that was choked with emotion. He was staring at his hands again with such a pained expression that I'm sure I was reflecting. We wanted to deny it all but the evidence was right in front of us and painted on our skin. What had we done?


End file.
